DA-88.... graveyard or workable

[JoeNovice]

I overheard a conversation regarding the DA88 and the comment was made....

"Soon, the tapes will be hard to find."

That in mind; Is the DA-88 headed for the recording history books or will Hi-8 tapes be around for years to come?

[boingoman]

Originally Posted by JoeNovice

That in mind; Is the DA-88 headed for the recording history books or will Hi-8 tapes be around for years to come?

Probably both, like ADATs.

[cusebassman]

Hi-8 tape is also used in tape-based camcorders still, so hopefully it will still be around for some time. Hell, you can still buy Super8 film cartridges if you look hard enough, and that technology is what? 20+ years old at a minimum? I realise Super8 is used for certain styles of movie making still so it has its niche, but I have a couple DA-38s I use for my main recording decks, and Im not too concerned.

Of course, I also hope to upgrade to an Alesis HD-24 sometime in the next year or two... Why is it a concern? Do you have the deck(s) and wonder if you should upgrade now, or are you just acquiring one?

Id say in either case, you're fine for the time being, and I think the tapes will be readily available in bulk for some time. I think these recorders already have been relegated to the history books to a certain extent, as pro studios have probably mostly upgraded to HD for main use I think, but Hell, Tascam still makes a DTRS machine...

http://www.tascam.com/Products/DA-98HR.html

So, for now, I think we're safe

[SonicAlbert]

Originally Posted by JoeNovice

I overheard a conversation regarding the DA88 and the comment was made....

"Soon, the tapes will be hard to find."

That in mind; Is the DA-88 headed for the recording history books or will Hi-8 tapes be around for years to come?

If you have a DA-88 and are worried about future tape availability, then you should stock up now. Look at how much tape you use in a year, and then figure out how many years of that you think you'll need.

[JoeNovice]

Thanks for the word fellas.

I was just curious. I saw a used one for sale cheap and wanted to get some commentary on the subject.

Would it be worth $200 to have for the hell of it? I track to disk and wouldn't have any frequent need.... it just seems like a real good deal.

[Chris Shaeffer]

Sure. "One more good deal and we'll be broke..."



I had a couple ADAT XT20's that I used for convertors before I moved- hardly ever stuck a tape in them except in emergencies. One such emergency was actually a charity session with a fairly big name artist. Nice guy but I *really* didn't want to waste his time- and my computer was being glitchy that day. So I did a quick switch to ADAT and we had a very smooth session. Transfered to Pro Tools after he left. Old school saves the day.

-C